I CARRY NO CARD

I don't carry a card that says I'm Indian
And it's something I may never get.
I won't be shoved in a box by anyone
And though they've tried they haven't got me yet.

I refuse, I guess, because of my conviction
That our ancestors never needed the thing.
And I'm afraid, I guess, of a prediction
They'll brand us like they did the Jews or something.

We've been restricted much too long
And been evicted much too often.
And the fact is that where we belong
Is anywhere outside this coffin.

In truth, they've always tried to bury us
In the hopes that we'd just disappear.
But we refused to yield to the various
Attempts to drive us away from here.

For here we belong and here we will stay
And as long as we accept each other
There's no need to carry a card that says
"I am Indian" to one another.

~~~~Raven~~~~